Devanagari
अहोऽतिधन्या व्रजगोरमण्य:
स्तन्यामृतं पीतमतीव ते मुदा ।
यासां विभो वत्सतरात्मजात्मना
यत्तृप्तयेऽद्यापि न चालमध्वरा: ॥ ३१ ॥
Verse text
aho ’ti-dhanyā vraja-go-ramaṇyaḥ
stanyāmṛtaṁ pītam atīva te mudā
yāsāṁ vibho vatsatarātmajātmanā
yat-tṛptaye ’dyāpi na cālam adhvarāḥ
Synonyms
aho
—
oh
;
ati
—
dhanyāḥ — most fortunate
;
vraja
—
of Vṛndāvana
;
go
—
the cows
;
ramaṇyaḥ
—
and the gopīs
;
stanya
—
the breast milk
;
amṛtam
—
which is like nectar
;
pītam
—
has been drunk
;
atīva
—
fully
;
te
—
by You
;
mudā
—
with satisfaction
;
yāsām
—
of whom
;
vibho
—
O almighty Lord
;
vatsatara
—
ātmaja — ātmanā — in the form of the calves and the sons of the cowherd women
;
yat
—
whose
;
tṛptaye
—
for the satisfaction
;
adya api
—
even until now
;
na
—
not
;
ca
—
and
;
alam
—
sufficient
;
adhvarāḥ
—
the Vedic sacrifices .
Translation
O almighty Lord, how greatly fortunate are the cows and ladies of Vṛndāvana, the nectar of whose breast milk You have happily drunk to Your full satisfaction, taking the form of their calves and children! All the Vedic sacrifices performed from time immemorial up to the present day have not given You as much satisfaction.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O almighty Lord, how greatly fortunate are the cows and ladies of Vṛndāvana, the nectar of whose breast-milk You have happily drunk to Your full satisfaction, taking the form of their calves and children! All the Vedic sacrifices performed from time immemorial up to the present day have not given You as much satisfaction.
KB 10.14.31
“The gopīs and cows of Vṛndāvana are so fortunate that they have been able to supply their breast milk to You. Persons who are engaged in performing great sacrifices and offering many valuable goats in sacrifice cannot attain the perfection of understanding You, but simply by devotional service these innocent village women and cows are all able to satisfy You with their milk. You have drunk their milk to Your full satisfaction, yet You are never satisfied as much by those engaged in performing sacrifices.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
"As an unqualified person, I have prayed to become your devotee. It is your will to fulfill it. It is unsuitable for me to pray for the elevated stage of your devotees engaged in spontaneous attraction of vastalya and other moods. I can only praise them." This is expressed in two verses.
"The cows and gopis of vraja are extremely fortunate. The word aho expresses extreme surprise. You with your sac cid ananda body, taking the form of the cowherd boys and the calves, have drunk the nectarean milk from their bodily breasts, with extreme bliss. With each mouthful the bliss increased (ativa muda). You could not even tolerate the time it took to milk the cows when you took the form of the calves. You took the form of the cowherd boys, otherwise it would not be possible to drink the milk of so many different mothers. And, O powerful one (vibho), you took many forms out of extreme greed, in order to drink. And among them all, you could not even miss the nectar from one breast. As they gave you such bliss, there is no doubt about their bodies also being purely sac cid ananda. And all the sacrifices from time immemorial to the present day, performed by myself, Siva and others with perfect mantras and actions, were not able to satisfy you."
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
“I should remain satisfied in myself, but you seek to serve me. But you are Brahmā and my people are cowherds. How is it possible to associate with them?” Fearing such response by the Lord, he replies with this verse. Their glory is greater than all others’ glory. He gives a specific example to illustrate, and by that indicates his own desire. He uses the word aho first to indicate great astonishment. The cowherd women are attained the acme of success (ati-dhanyāḥ). Who are they? They are most excellent (ramaṇyaḥ) since they satisfied the Lord by feeding him from their breasts. Among many others, not one has such good fortune. How are they fortunate? O Lord, fully satisfied in yourself (vibho)! You drank their milk. The great quantity is shown: all sacrifices performed from beginningless time in the past (since the Vedas are without beginning) till now cannot satisfy you—since you are fully satisfied in yourself. But still you drank the cowherd women’s milk. Though you drink other nectar, and live through sacrifice, you are not interested in the sacrifices or the sacrificers. Ah! Therefore what is this nectar? It is from their breasts. Kṛṣṇa by his unique nature tasted the special rasa coming from their bodies. And he drank it—he actually sucked it with his mouth. And he sucked it intensely (atīva) and with the highest pleasure (mudā). And he became millions of calves and boys out of greed to drink it all. Each word shows greater and greater astonishment. This good fortune was not just an occasional event for the highly qualified women of Vraja. And it was not according to methods of karma-kāṇḍa. Your greatness in this regard astonishes me. This action was continuous among the people of Vraja.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
Brahām prays to have bhakti similar to that of the people of Vraja, or to serve their lotus feet. Since everything should end in sweetness, with the intention of praising the Lord by describing their greatness, he praises them in ten verses. How amazing (aho)! This is most auspicious. The cows and women have reached the highest success possible (atidhanyāḥ). They satisfied you by giving their breast milk (ramaṇyaḥ) to satisy you (yad-tṛptaye). O most perfect Lord (vibho)! And you drank the milk, and drank to the highest degree (atīva). And it gave you great joy (mudā). And you drank directly by being the calves and cowherd boys. Past tense is used to indicate that he covered his normal form. You did this from previously until today (adyāpi). Or you drank even today, with your form as a small child (adyāpi).